Christmas 2008 was my second in LB, but it will always be in my mind - for I was a part of perhaps the longest carol practice sessions... I cant stop having a laugh - reason being I know that even some of the professional carol singing groups wouldnt dedicate more than 2 weeks if they knew they arent paid! And what was required to call all these people (the carol group in the photo) to the venue was just 1 single mail. The response undoubtedly would be good, isnt it? Who would want to miss out on singing some of the melodious carols composed yesteryears.. still sung worldwide! Also it was, if I am not wrong, the perfect opportunity to make new "Christmas Friends". Now you may ask any one of these guys if they'd still prefer an Orkut or Facebook to network with new faces, or would opt for such good times. (unfortunately we can celebrate Christ's coming just once a year) :(
The practice sessions
I remember the first day when all were called to one of the meeting rooms. Hardly everyone could turn up. No doubt work first! and also who would have imagined the days to come will turn out to be so much fun. Forget how to orchestrate, not even the carols were decided. Day two .. more people .. Carol songs selected from various sources... Day three ... I take a printout of the selected carols, the so called "carol gang" is almost finalized. Also we happened to get some Audio CDs - just to hear how the original beats are and then beat the originals.. he he! We had Christie and Samy on Guitars, others taking into tenors, alto and bass (thats a different story that we had redefined these concepts of music by singing our own way). We were still missing the percussion factor. One of our colleagues did take the initiative to play the bongo but.. at times the strumming and the beats wouldnt go hand in hand... Hmm!! what next? O yea! Here comes the man for rescue - Tushar Gupte - we call him the master Tabla vaadak of Lionbridge. Tushar's percussion accompaniment was indeed the icing on the cake. We had all the musical merriment lasting for a few more days in the training room. After having asked to have the carol practice in some other venue, we were finally posted that it will be continued on the terrace of Spectra. What more could one ask for! An open space for venting all the innovative ideas on post carol-jamming, a perfect venue to shout out loud for no reason. With no ceiling on top and placing sky as limit, people could imagine endless ways of entertaining others. Ha! what about the acoustics? Well, despite the reason that terrace would take a slight toll on our dear guitarists they never bothered. They strummed hard. Mr.Percussionist's wrists would never tire as well. :) In this whole process, we made new friends as employees from all the Business units had joined. The more satisfying yet a little melancholic was the thought that all of this would culminate in a joyous season - never to come again in the years for people in LB. It was decided that this time we would reach out to our colleagues by singing in all possible venues in the working premises. 24th Dec was the Carol Day. Most of turned early by 9 in the morning. The first thing to do then was hunting for Santa Caps... Yeah! Believe me, more than half of the people who wanted to have one really didn't have a cap. So we hurried downstairs to the all catering store - DMart. Hmm! no ways! what's this!! No Xmas caps... cant stay... hurried to Galleria .. searched in all possible shops big and small. Finally we had found a gift centre selling away the last few stocks. Purchased at wholesome rates, donned them. We started at about 11.00 from one end of the sixth floor, singing "Deck the hall...", "joy to the world...", .."felice Navidad!.." topping them with a sweet "we wish you a merry Christmas!.." Downstairs, we entertained our friends on 5th and 1st Floors with the same zest. Photos clicked, flashes all over. We had become celebrity-entertainers-of the moment! One of the teams couldnt witness fun when we sang, due to a certain difference in their work schedules. We were requested by one of the managers to give an exclusive for them. Who'd refrain to show such a good gesture. We called this team to the terrace, took our vocal cords high, the instrumentalists at their best for that one last time in the year 2008. Ron just couldnt keep his excitement - he sang Numb - a Linkin park number. What an end to Xmas carols. We conveyed season's greetings to each other, hugs and pecks. :)
One year later
A rather dry year compared to last when it came to Carol practice. I dont want to blame the times for most of us knew year 2008 wouldnt replay. Most of the friends from the "carol gang" have quit LB finding better opportunites outside. If I were to write on a few of them , Anu (starting from the left - Lady in white top, santa cap) from the content team has quit, Raimy - she's got married!, Savy's got a better one in a BPO, Monica has vanished, Archana (to the left of lady with guitar) is now a tech writer with another firm, Nisha (bottom right to the lady with guitar) 
has made an exit from the city. Kunal (left to Mr. Santa) absconded for better reasons. he he! Memories from last year strike sharp. Christie was crossing my way on the 23rd evening when he pressed my hand and exclaimed, "dude you remember, last year we were cutting grass for making the crib on the 5th floor!" Yea we were also involved in doing such crazy things a year before if I forgot to mention that before. :) ... On the 24th morning, comes a surprise call, ".. This is Archana!" We wished each other, remembered the good times, exchanged prayers for the season. Its said that the best of moments are never repeated becaused they are meant to be nostalgic - bringing a smile on our faces in the decades to come! Belated Christmas wishes and also wishing each one a promising year ahead...
PS: Friends whose names I have missed in this article, will be made famous in another globally published one... he he!
